Customer Reviews

Indonesian Street Food Secrets

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book. Having traveled in Indonesia I found the foods particularly unique. Its great to have this book as a resource to make some of the wonderfull I experienced there. The book, has wonderfull photos and descriptions of each individual element that goes into a dish. It was very helpful to get the descriptions of various obscure nuts and fruits and such that go into an Indonesian dish. The diversity of dishes is great too, there are vegetarian dishes as well as meat, appatizers, entre's and drinks. The books also came with an interactive cd rom that actually has videos of the dishes being cooked. A great resource for any kitchen. Thanks to the author, Keith Miller !!!

This is one of my greatest finds. It is written extremely well and the recipies are outstanding. If you like to cook or have an interest in asian food this book is a must. *****

Brian S. Bracelin
Leadership Training Inc.

This is a wonderful book for fans of Indonesian culture and cuisine. It comes with an interactive CD-ROM that augments the content with music, videos, scalable recipes and ingredient pronunciations! Any Indonesian traveler will immediately recognize favorites such as gado-gado, tempe kering and opor ayam. The recipes are easy to follow and result in authentic-tasting food.

On the downside, the CD-ROM has a few minor problems. Navigation is slow and cumbersome, the graphics are grainy and there are spurious characters in some of the descriptions. (Perhaps due to my running it on a PC.) The content focuses mainly on Central Java, the cultural heartland of Indonesia, interesting for beginners but leaving many other areas, such as Bali, barely touched. Hardcore Indonesiaphiles will be disappointed. This also goes for the recipes - few from Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Kalimantan or the Moluccas. Some of the photos in the book are grainy, poorly reproduced or just not very good.

Despite the downsides, the book is well worth the price. Enjoy!

I love the way Miller presents his stories, pictures and foods on this book.
I do notice that Miller uses substitution. For example,he indicated green onion as garnish to 'Soto Ayam'. In most parts of Indonesia, the garnish is actually Chinese eelery, not green onion. Chinese celery is usually readily available in many Asian grocery stores in the West Coast.

When I first saw this book, I was impressed by the beautiful photos and descriptions of Indonesia. Then I began to read the recipes and realized they were simple enough that I could prepare them.

I kept my copy and gave my 28-year-old son, who has traveled extensively through Southeast Asia, his own book for Christmas. He recognized most of the dishes in Keith Ruskin Miller's culinary odyssey and got very excited about the book. It turned out to be the perfect gift.

Having spent eight months living in Bali, I have a homesick spot for the food I ate there. This is the first Indonesian cookbook I've seen that contains recipes for just about all the dishes I actually ate while I was there. Not foofie, fancy food, this what I, and the Balinese, ate day in and day out, whether bought from the warungs and bakso carts or served by Ibu at family dinners with friends. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet (I just got the book and CD) but from those I already make, I can say the recipes are authentic, and I want to try just about every one of them! Well done!

Although I have never been to Indonesia, nor am I an experienced cook, I found this book fascinating. It really is about the Indonesian culture as it is represented by its food. The photos are outstanding and give the reader a non-tourist view of of this intriguing land. The recipes are easy to follow and the author gives substitute ingredients if the more exotic foods can not be found. I very much enjoyed reading the information sections and can't wait to try some of the recipes.

If you like Indonesian food as much as I do, you'll have to order this delightful book. Keith Miller finds the essence of the complex Indonesian culinary culture and provides all the "how-to-do-it" information necessary to prepare the wonderful foods of Indonesia. The book comes with a CD-ROM that helps explain to techno-geeks what can be found within the pages of the book itself. I guess some people need to see it on a computer screen before they get it. The book itself has great color photographs of all the required ingredients and the various techniques of Indonesian food preparation.

This is a great introduction to Indonesian food. Great illustrations and well chosen, easy to follow recipes. The introductory material is very good, especially the section on native Indonesian foodstuffs. I mislaid the CD that came with the book not long after I purchased it but I wasn't impressed with it as adding significantly to what is found in this nice little book.

I love this book. Having traveled in Indonesia I found the foods particularly unique. Its great to have this book as a resource to make some of the wonderfull I experienced there. The book, has wonderfull photos and descriptions of each individual element that goes into a dish. It was very helpful to get the descriptions of various obscure nuts and fruits and such that go into an Indonesian dish. The diversity of dishes is great too, there are vegetarian dishes as well as meat, appatizers, entre's and drinks. The books also came with an interactive cd rom that actually has videos of the dishes being cooked. A great resource for any kitchen. Thanks to the author, Keith Miller !!!